(REX/SHUTTERSTOCK) article by Dave McNary via Variety.com Lee Daniels (“Precious”, “The Butler”, “Empire”) will direct the documentary feature film “The Apollo Theater Film Project,” an authorized history of New York’s famed venue.
“I am honored to be entrusted with the story of this incredible American iconic institution and work with this team,” Daniels said. “I used to go to the Apollo Theater as a kid and never in a million years would I have imagined I would be back to be doing this – it is very special for me.” Director Lee Daniels (photo via slate.com)
The Apollo began operating in 1934 during the Harlem Renaissance and became the most prized venue on the “Chitlin’ Circuit” during the time of racial segregation in the United States. The Apollo was a key launch venue for Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix and the Jackson Five. Performers have included Aretha Franklin, Nat King Cole, Gladys Knight, Sammy Davis Jr. and Billie Holiday.
White Horse Pictures’ Nigel Sinclair and Jeanne Elfant Festa are producing the project. Daniels and Jonelle Procope, the president and CEO of the Apollo Theater, are asking members of the public, audience-goers and fans for film footage, home movies, photographs or other memorabilia.
“We are asking members of the community who have been to the Apollo, who may have parents or grandparents or other family members or friends who have done so, to help us find any material — audience footage, photographs or other memories that we can use in our documentary film,” Daniels and Procope said.
The project has established a website (www.apollotheaterdocumentary.com) for anyone who wants to submit. “We will, of course, respect everybody’s ownership of their property,” Daniels and Procope said. To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/lee-daniels-director-apollo-theater-documentary-1201691098/
Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr in the musical “Hamilton” at the Richard Rodgers Theater. (Photo Credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)
The hit musical “Hamilton” will be the subject of a documentary film scheduled to air on PBS this fall.
The public broadcasting network announced Monday that it would air “Hamilton’s America” as part of its Great Performances series this fall.
The documentary is being produced by RadicalMedia, which previously made a documentary about “In the Heights,” a musical composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also created “Hamilton.” The film company has a long relationship with Mr. Miranda and with Jeffrey Seller, the lead producer of “Hamilton.” RadicalMedia also previously filmed Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop-improv group with which Mr. Miranda performs, as well as the final Broadway performance of “Rent,” a musical that was co-produced by Mr. Seller.
The filmmakers started shooting the documentary in 2013, two years before the show arrived on Broadway, and have footage of visits by the creative team to historic sites associated with Alexander Hamilton, whose life is the basis of the musical. The film will also feature scenes from the show, and a look at the life of Hamilton, according to Dave Sirulnick, one of RadicalMedia’s executives.
The making of “Hamilton” has been heavily chronicled in print and on television, and Mr. Miranda is now wrapping up a book about the show, but Mr. Sirulnick said that in the documentary “the storytelling is going to be very fresh” and will offer a close-up view of the creative team at work.
Public television’s WORLD Channelwill present the complete Emmy-Award winning Eyes on the Prize I and II starting tonight, January 17, 2016. A 30-minute special feature, Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now, will launch the encore presentation of this historic two-part series and explore its impressive relevance today.
Eyes on the Prize, created by Executive Producer Henry Hampton, is a critically-acclaimed and in-depth documentary series on civil rights in America. With the current national spotlight on issues of race and inequality—as well as the marking of the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, and the 60th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott—the time is right for this series about the nation’s civil rights history to be front and center as part of an essential dialogue.
America continues to struggle with the recurring crisis of race-related violence; Eyes on the PrizeI and II can provide perspective for a new generation and be a touchstone for citizens who lived through the decades that the films depict. Journalist and writer Al Letson hosts new introductions to each episode.
“We are elated that this landmark series will once again be broadcast across the country, reaching millions of viewers—many of whom may never have seen the original airing. The series focuses on solutions to the conflicts that we face today. Eyes on the Prize shows leadership, grass roots organization and personal sacrifice as the recipe that can create lasting change. It is our hope the television programs together with our comprehensive outreach campaign will spark a national dialogue about this critical topic,” says Judi Hampton, president of Blackside, and sister of the late Henry Hampton (1940-1998).
The WORLD Channel presentation, made possible with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation, includes Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now, a new, original 30-minute special, which will lead into the premiere January 17 of Eyes on the Prize, setting the groundbreaking documentary series in the context of today. Narrated by music artist Aloe Blacc, Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now features Eyes on the Prize filmmakers, present-day activists, human rights leaders, and scholars. The special revisits key historical moments and explores commonalities with current national events.
“The WORLD Channel is honored to be presenting this signature series,” says Chris Hastings, Executive Producer of the WORLD Channel. “It’s a history that must be understood. With Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now, we ask questions and draw comparisons about the struggle to achieve equality today. As conflicts and challenges continue, Eyes on the Prize remains essential viewing for all Americans.”
As part of the initiative, WGBH Education is developing a digital resource collection supporting Eyes on the Prize and civil rights themes in history and social studies curricula, to help the civil rights movement come alive for students today. This collection will be available on PBS LearningMedia in January.
Based at WGBH Boston, the national public media producer, WORLD Channel delivers the best of public television’s original documentary films and news to US audiences through local public television stations, including America ReFramed,AfroPop, POV and Local, USA.The special Eyes on the Prize presentation also will be made available to all public television stations for local broadcasts (check listings) after the WORLD premiere.
EYES ON THE PRIZE I and II
Almost three decades since its premiere, the groundbreaking series Eyes on the Prize I and II will return to PBS this January. Eyes on the Prize I will premiere on The WORLD Channel six consecutive Sundays – January 17, 24, 31 and February 7, 14, 21 at 9:00 p.m. (EST). Eyes on the Prize II will air eight consecutive Sundays—February 28, March 6, 13, 20, 27, and April 3, 10, 17 at 9:00 p.m. (EST).
Produced by Blackside, Eyes on the Prize tells the definitive story of the Civil Rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. This multi-part Academy Award nominated documentary is the winner of numerous Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Association Award, and a Television Critics Association Award.
Through contemporary interviews and historical footage, Eyes on the Prize I and II, traces the civil rights movement from the Montgomery bus boycott to the Voting Rights Act; from early acts of individual courage through the flowering of a mass movement and its eventual split into factions. The late Julian Bond, political leader and civil rights activist, narrates. Descriptions of each episode follow below:
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (RAY TANG/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK) HBO is expanding its relationship with “Ballers” star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Johnson will produce and appear in a documentary for the network about youth prison boot camps, which is inspired by his young life. The film is set to premiere in May.
Titled “Rock and a Hard Place,” the documentary captures the lives of incarcerated young people who are granted a second chance: the opportunity to trade an extensive prison sentence for a fresh start by completing the famed Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation Boot Camp Program. The doc chronicles the harsh six-month program, in which drill sergeants push inmates to their limit, encouraging them to learn from their past mistakes and become constructive members of society so that they’re less likely to return to prison.
Inspired by Johnson’s own experiences with the law as a youth, the wrestler-turned actor will appear in the documentary — a passion project for him — as he visits a facility to speak with a group of young offenders who are on the brink of serving long prison terms.
“By the time I was 16, I had been arrested eight or nine times for a variety of things, and can relate to what these kids are going through,” Johnson said.
Hailing from Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions — which he co-founded with Dany Garcia — and 44 Blue Productions, Johnson, Garcia and 44 Blue president Rasha Drachkovitch will serve as executive producers, in addition to HBO’s Sheila Nevins and Matthew O’Neill and Jon Alpert who are directors on the film. HBO’s Jacqueline Glover is a supervising producer.
Garcia commented, “Miami-Dade is making a difference and truly changing lives in the process of all their hard work. That is why we wanted to make a film about it.” Drachkovitch added, “Something remarkable is happening behind the scenes of this program — we’re going to find out exactly what that is.”
“Rock and A Hard Place” marks the second collaboration between Seven Bucks Prods. and HBO, following “Ballers,” which is heading into Season 2. The project is the latest partnership between Seven Bucks and 44 Blue, following the companies’ co-produced docu-series “Hard Corps,” which is set in the competitive world of Drum Corps International and was recently greenlit at Fuse.
Aside from a stacked slate with “Hard Corps,” “Ballers” and “Rock and A Hard Place,” Johnson is staying plenty busy this year. News of the HBO doc right on the heels of Seven Bucks Prods. landing a script deal for a LAPD drama “Boost Unit” at Fox. article by Elizabeth Wagmeister via Variety.com
Spike Lee directs documentary “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to ‘Off the Wall'” (photo via blogs.indiewire.com)
I had no idea Spike Lee was working on another Michael Jackson film. Or maybe I did, but I just don’t recall. I searched the S&A archives but didn’t immediately find anything, so it doesn’t appear we mentioned it. There was the Michael Jackson documentary Spike made in 2012, in collaboration with Jackson’s estate and Sony Music, titled “Bad 25.” But this one is an entirely new project, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next month.
Titled “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to ‘Off The Wall'”, the documentary’s synopsis reads: Catapulted by the success of his first major solo project, “Off The Wall,” Michael Jackson went from child star to King of Pop. This film explores the seminal album, with rare archival footage and interviews from those who were there and those whose lives its success and legacy impacted.
My research tells me that Spike first shared that he was working on this earlier this year, while doing press for his last film, “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus,” ahead of its USA release. Although he didn’t share any details – just that he was working on it, with potential plans to make similar documentaries on other seminal MJ albums, like “Thriller.”
No trailer or much media available yet for “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to ‘Off the Wall'” except for the above still from Sundance. article by Tambay A. Obenson via Shadow And Act
“I remember the first day we brought Jordan home from the hospital a miracle child. For nine months, I fought to give this special child life. I remember asking God to keep him safe and out of harm’s way. I have said many prayers that he would be highly favored before God and man. I asked God that he would give him wisdom to navigate a world filled with uncertainty and danger.” – Lucia McBath
On November 23rd of 2012, Michael Dunn approached a red Dodge Durango and fired 10 shots at four black teenage boys. Their music too loud, skin too dark, and voices too opinionated. That same night, Jordan Davis drew his last breath and Lucia McBath lost her firstborn child. Now, just three years later, HBO will air 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, an in-depth documentary chronicling the details of the murder of Davis.
Award-winning director and cinematographer Marc Silver debuted the film at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact. Now, HBO is providing a larger platform for the project, opening a door for further exploration into America’s current state of cultural turmoil. The film captures testimonies from the Michael Dunn trial, and moments of conquest as Lucia McBeth and Ron Davis fight to gain justice for black children nationally in the name of their departed son.
Children are scared, people are angry and the Black community is in constant mourning. The band-aid placed over the wound of racism has been ripped away. Now is the time for America to properly address the errors of it’s past — as it is clear that time will not heal racial inequality. Often times the actions of the offender are glorified while the life of the victim goes forgotten. This film stands as a catalyst for discussion, giving a voice to the grieving families of slain children around the country.
Take the time to tune in to HBO when 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets airs on television on November 23rd at 9:00pm EST. Check out the trailer below:
John Lindsey, Christopher Scott and Steven Phillips work to exhonerate wrongfully convicted men just like they were in documentary “True Conviction” (photo via trueconvictionfilm.com)
As I combed my RSS Feed for stories to share on GBN today, I was particularly taken by an article posted by the indefatigable Tambay A. Obenson of Shadow And Act, (the most comprehensive site on black cinema, past and present, that I have ever come across). It was an update on a documentary project now called “True Conviction” that Obenson has been tracking on his blog for about 2 years, starting with its Kickstarter fundraising campaign in early 2013. Today, he posted the link to a seven-minute preview of the film directed by Jamie Meltzer.
I opened it to watch and was immediately riveted by the story – how three men, each convicted, imprisoned and eventually exonerated for crimes they didn’t commit – banded together to form an agency to help countless other innocent people who are still unjustly serving time. When one of the detectives, Christopher Scott, confronts Alonso Hardy, who confessed to having committed the crime for which Scott was imprisoned, it is a moment to which every person in America should bear witness, and hopefully begin to understand and help change our devastatingly faulty and racist criminal justice system.
Even though robbed of a large chunk of their adulthoods, Scott and his partners Johnnie Lindsey and Steven Phillips dedicate their lives to helping others, because, as Scott states so poignantly at the end of the trailer:
As much as I paid for his weakness, he didn’t do this to me. It was men much more powerful than Alonso. Cops, prosecutors, D.A.s, judges… The justice system wronged me so much, you know, I had to come out and try to make a change. My whole mission is to free as many people as I can before I leave this world.
I’d embed the video if I could, but it won’t allow me. So I am posting the link to the trailer right here: https://vimeo.com/145864128.Additionally, if you want to sign up to receive newsletters about the film, events related to it and upcoming screenings, you can do so at trueconvictionfilm.com. article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Founder and Editor-in-Chief (follow @lakinhutcherson)
The completed building of the National Museum of African American History and Culture will be transformed into a lively display one year before it opens. (National Museum of African American History and Culture)
The building of the National Museum of African American History and Culture is now complete, with interior work underway. Now marks the final countdown to the museum’s grand opening next Fall (exact dates have not yet been announced). Though an actual visit to the long-awaited museum is still many weeks away, visitors to the National Mall next month will get a taste of what’s to come when the museum’s façade will be transformed into a lively and spectacular display of video, music and light.
When the sun goes down each evening between November 16 and 18, the museum’s south exterior, facing Madison Drive, and its west exterior, on 15th Street near the Washington Monument, will be illuminated by a seven-minute video, entitled “Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom.” Produced by the renowned filmmakers Stanley J. Nelson and Marcia Smith of Firelight Media, and animated by Quixotic Entertainment, the video projection will transform the museum into a five-story, block-long 3D canvas, according to museum officials.
“What we wanted to do was to metaphorically have the museum speak even before we open next year,” says Kinshasha Holman Conwill, deputy director of the museum.
“And the signal design element for our building is the corona: the three-tiered bronze colored element that has references in African sculpture and African American life and that identifies this building as something unique on the Mall. So to project on to that façade really gave us that opportunity to make the museum speak.”
The display, which the museum’s director Lonnie Bunch has called a “dynamic event,” will be accompanied by a soundtrack of historical music and spoken word, and will pay tribute to three significant moments in history: the culmination of the Civil War with the surrender at Appomattox on April 8, 1865; ratification of the 13th Amendment, which officially ended the institution of slavery on December 5, 1865; and the passage of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965.
“One of the things that [the film connects] to is the notion and the vision that the museum would be a place for those who already revel in African American history and culture,” says Conwill. “But most importantly,” she adds that the museum seeks to also provide a unique “lens into what it means to be an American and that those milestones in American history, as viewed through that lens, really amplifies that notion.”
On its opening night, November 16, the state-of-the-art digital projection imagery will also be accompanied by a live, outdoor program, produced and directed by Ricardo Khan, former artistic director of the Tony Award-winning Crossroads Theatre Co. Actor Erik Todd Dellums will serve as master of the ceremonies, which will include remarks by other dignitaries, including Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser; and U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton.
After flipping through the September fall fashion issues of my favorite magazines with black “It Girls” such as Beyoncé, Kerry Washington, Serenaand Misty Copeland on their covers, I’m unusually interested in clothes. All that paging through magazines got me wondering: Where are all the black-owned fashion brands? Yes, of course well-known black brands still exist. Tracy Reese and Byron Lars are two of my favorites.
Digging into the rabbit hole of black designers led me to Fresh Dressed, a fascinating documentary from 2014 directed by Sacha Jenkins about the foundations of urban fashion that features some of the biggest names in fashion (Dapper Dan, Andre Leon Talley) and hip-hop (Kanye West, Nas). And it conveniently airs on Vimeo on Demand. One late-night click on my PayPal account and I was immersed in the world of pre-gentrified New York and hip-hop’s early years, which started the urban fashion apparel market. Sweet! Check out the trailer below:
Ready to take a walk down memory lane or learn the secret to how the brands so many of us wore in the ‘90s became hot (then not)? Check out Fresh Dressed. Here are 10 reasons the doc is worthwhile:
1. Unique fashion inspirations.
Customized leather jackets underneath denim vests—a fashion staple that was worn by street gang members who wanted to identify their affiliation—were inspired by 1969’s Easy Rider, a film about two bikers.
2. Jamel Shabazz photographs.
Brooklyn-born Shabazz spent the ‘80s taking iconic pictures of black street style and capturing the culture. His driving force? “[Black style] is interpreted around the world as just being fly,” Shabazz says in the documentary. “What I see is pride and dignity. I wanted the world to see [us] as something unlike they had seen before. That despite people’s condition, they were able to maintain a great deal of integrity and it is shown in the way people dress and the pride they take in having clean sneakers on.”
3. Random hip-hop fun facts.
Before Play of the rap duo Kid ‘n Play was a rapper, he was a graffiti artist who used denim jackets as his canvas. “People would pay me to paint their names on their jeans,” says Christopher “Play” Reid.
4. Dapper Dan was more popular than Louis Vuitton (among black people).
The (in)famous Harlem designer and boutique owner was best known for merging hip-hop fashion sensibilities with the logos of European fashion houses, such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci. Think tricking out the upholstery of Big Daddy Kane’s car with a red and black Gucci monogram print or maybe a red leather Gucci sweatsuit for Bobby Brown. “I blacken-ized [luxury] fashion” Dan boasts in Fresh Dressed. “I made it so it would look good on us.”
Nas, a producer of the documentary, takes the boasting a step further:
“Dapper Dan was Tom Ford before Tom Ford,” says the rapper. “He had the foresight to do what they [luxury brands] started doing five years, 10 years after him.”
5. The genesis of fat laces in sneakers.
Before wide laces were sold ready-made in stores, sneaker aficionados had to create their own by taking the laces out of the shoe, stretching them, starching them and then ironing them.
6. Mayor’s closet.
I’m not so into sneakers, but even I gasped looking at the walk-in closet of sneaker aficionado Mayor, who boasts of going 7.5 years without wearing the same pair of shoes twice. (That’s 2,737 pairs). He keeps his collection, which includes a significant number of Jordans, in a row of plastic containers that are as tall he is and estimates his collection is worth more than half a million dollars.
7. Rediscovering the Lo-Lifes.
This was a well-known “gang” in Brooklyn, N.Y., that didn’t identify itself by colors but by fashion logos, one in particular: Polo. Its criminal activity was mainly shoplifting Ralph Lauren clothing from department stores, and status in the group was determined by who wore the most exclusive wares best. For some, such as Lo-Life leader Thirstin Howl the 3rd (yes, like the millionaire from Gilligan’s Island), fashion is really that serious.
8. Learning how Tommy Hilfiger became so popular among black people.
Instead of offering endorsement deals to famous rappers, Hilfiger offered free clothes to the MCs—and in the neighborhoods where they came from. “Tommy Hilfiger would show up in the ‘hood and open up a trunk with clothes,” recalls Ralph McDaniels, who hosted the popular hip-hop TV show Video Music Box. “It was the drug dealer giving you a free hit. It was smart. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
9. That time GAP unwittingly spent $30 million on a FUBU commercial.
LL Cool J signed on to do a GAP commercial, but didn’t really believe the brand respected hip-hop culture, according to FUBU executive Daymond John. The rapper insisted on wearing a FUBU baseball cap in the commercial and even dropped a line that included FUBUs tagline, “For Us By Us.” “It basically became a FUBU commercial,” adds John. FUBU eventually became a $350 million business.
10. Learning that Tupac didn’t charge black people.
At the height of his fame, Tupac took a meeting with Karl Kani in which Kani pitched him to star in an upcoming ad campaign. “I ain’t gonna charge you; you black,” Pac told Kani. “I don’t charge my people for nothing.” Two weeks later, they did a photoshoot … free. Kani credits Pac with introducing him to a global market. article by Demetria Lucas D’oyley via theroot.com
Whoopi Goldberg (IMAGE COURTESY OF DAVE KOTINSKY/GETTY IMAGES)
According to Variety.com, Whoopi Goldberg has teamed up with fellow producers Keith A. Beauchamp and Frederick Zollo to make a feature film entitled “Till” about the racially-motivated murder of Emmett Till in 1955.
Till, 14, was tortured and lynched on Aug. 28, 1955, after reportedly whistling at a white woman while visiting relatives in Money, Miss. His murder helped ignite what became the Civil Rights Movement.
“Till” will be based on Beauchamp’s 2004 documentary “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” and Simeon Wright’s “Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till.” Beauchamp’s film led the U.S. government to reopen the Till case in 2007.
Producers are launching a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds for the production, and the film is slated to go into production early next year.
“Here is a story that is as much a part of American history as the Boston Tea Party and may stand as the greatest argument for getting rid of sanctioned racism,” Goldberg said. “Emmett Till’s brutal death at the hands of ignorant, brutish people exposes the Jim Crow-era South that gave the implicit OK to uphold that kind of racism without any real fear of repercussions. Today, the return of rampant, unchallenged racism cries out for the telling of Emmett Till’s story again.”
Zollo produced the civil rights-based dramas “Mississippi Burning” (1988) and “Ghosts of Mississippi” (1996). Goldberg starred as Myrlie Evers, wife of murdered civil rights leader Medgar Evers, in the latter film.
Two other Till projects were announced in May: Skyland Pictures and FireRock Bay Pictures are producing an Emmett Till movie based on the play “The Face of Emmett Till,” and Shatterglass Films and Chaz Ebert are developing a film based on the book “Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America.” Jay Z and Will Smith are also developing an HBO miniseries based on Till’s life with writer/producer Aaron Kaplan. article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
